Death Comes
by msllamalover
Summary: Death came for Remus and Nymphadora Lupin before they were ready. When Death comes for Teddy Lupin, it reunites a family.


_Disclaimer: Not mine, of course! Was originally going to be a James, Lily and Harry story in the same format, but I decided Remus, Nymphadora and Teddy worked better. _

Death came for Remus Lupin in the form of James Potter. His face was blank. He was not grinning, like he used to most of the time when he was alive, he was not even smiling as he came for his old friend Moony.

Death came for Remus Lupin, but for the first time in nearly seventeen years, he wished he could live. In all the years of solitude, Death left him alone. Now, however, when Remus finally anticipated tomorrow, the tomorrow he would spend with his beautiful wife and son, Death came.

Death grinned, sickly sweet, and held out his hand. "Remus, it's time. It's time for you to come home," James said.

"No, James, please, no. Home is there, with Dora and Teddy. I was home, I was finally home." Remus sobbed.

"You'll see them again. We need you here, now, Remus. Sirius and Lily and I need you here." James said again, in the same flat tone he had addressed Remus with the first time.

"No! You left me, you all left me! You never needed me!" Remus replied, trying, and failing, to sound sinister.

"I didn't leave you, Remus. I am not James Potter, just Death, in a form you recognize, and missed in life. James Potter is waiting for you. You must not keep your friends waiting any longer." Death said.

Remus simply nodded this time, and the white space he had been standing, in conversing with Death dissolved.

He did not have time to look at his new surroundings, or even to rise from the floor. James Potter, the real James Potter this time, Lily Potter and Sirius Black threw themselves onto him, and they sat on the floor in a tight embrace.

"I wouldn't get too used to this, Moony!" Sirius Black grinned, lightly punching his friend on the arm.

"What? Why not?" Remus asked, confused.

"Tonks has just arrived." Lily Potter said, lightly.

Remus' face lit up.

Death came for Remus Lupin. Death came, and shook away all of life's troubles. Death came, and finally allowed him to be carefree.

* * *

Death came for Nymphadora Lupin in the form of Sirius Black. His eyes had none of the sparkle they had when he was living. They conveyed no emotion. The vibrant grey pools were dull as he came for his little cousin Tonks.

Death came for Dora Lupin long, long before her time. She was meant to live a long life, caring for her child and being loved by her husband. Not once in her short life did she wish for Death, so Death never came for her before. Even as she saw her beloved Remus fall in battle, she did not wish for Death, she was not so selfish to her child as to wish for Death. Yet, as she was knelt over Remus' body, wishing for his life back, Death came.

Dora rushed towards her cousin, tears streaming down her cheeks, but before she could reach him, he put out his hand to stop her hug. "Nymphadora, it's time. It's time for you to be at peace," Sirius said, his tone monotonous, and he held out his hand for her to take. She ignored it.

"I was at peace, Sirius! Let me go back to my peace. Let me go back to Teddy, please." She half begged, half demanded.

"No, Nymphadora, your peace is here now. You will see your son again. We need you here, now. Remus and your father and I need you here." Sirius said.

"Remus doesn't need me, he has you, and neither does dad, he has his family! And you don't need me, Sirius Black! You never needed anyone but yourself, in all the time I've ever known you! Please, Teddy needs me, let me go back to him!" she begged, her once bright hair was now dull and grey, and lay long and straggly down her back.

"I am not Sirius Black, Nymphadora. I am Death, in a form you recognize and missed in life. Sirius Black waiting for you," Death said, ignoring her pleas to return to Teddy, "You must come with me now."

Dora sighed, the tears falling thicker and faster as she touched Deaths hand. The instant their fingertips met, the space around her changed. She did not see her new surroundings. She didn't see anything except Remus, standing before her, his own tears mirroring the ones running down her face. She jumped into his arms, and she knew her hair would not be a forlorn grey any longer.

Looking over Remus' shoulder, she saw her father and Sirius and the Potters. She smiled at them, and they ran to the embracing couple. She hugged them all separately, before hugging Remus again. Neither of them wanted to let go.

"Teddy…I've left Teddy, Remus, I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry…" She whispered into his shoulder.

Remus let go of Dora, and held her shoulders so he could look in to her eyes. "Don't be sorry, Nymphadora, Teddy has Harry and your mother and the Weasley's." He smiled.

"But not his parents." She returned his smile sadly.

Lily Potter came forward, and placed a comforting hand on her back. "It gets easier, Dora, I promise. You'll see him again soon."

Nymphadora's face lit up.

Death came for Nymphadora Lupin. Death came, and promised a peaceful eternity. Death came, and finally allowed her to be free from war and suffering.

* * *

Death comes for Teddy Lupin in the form of his mother. She does not move, or say a word. She just holds out her hand to him. Teddy does not understand why she ignores him, so he does not take her hand. He just looks at her. Her hair is short and pink and spiky. Her eyes are wide and violet, framed with long eyelashes. Her face is heart shaped. She is exactly as Teddy imagined, but there is no smile dancing on her lips. In every photograph he has ever seen of her, she is smiling.

Death comes for Teddy Lupin when he is an old man. His grand children are downstairs, and, as he sits in his bedroom, he knows, and his children know, his time is nearly up. They all know it will not be long before he joins his wife and his parents. Only minutes after being told his oldest granddaughter is pregnant, he passes away. He does not struggle, like Victoire did, like his parents did. Death comes for Teddy Lupin, and he accepts it.

"Nymphadora…Mum?" He asks, quietly. She does not reply.

"Mum, is that you? Why won't you talk to me?" He receives still no reply, but he feels calmed by the presence of her figure. He takes her hand.

His touch stimulates her, and her face and body become animate. As he releases her hand, he see's Remus materialise behind her. His mother and his father are there, so close he can touch them, but he doesn't. The three just stand, taking each other in.

When Teddy feels the bubble of happiness inside him swell so much that he can not control it any longer, he bursts into a fit of laughter and tears. He pulls his mother up into a hug of such immense feeling she is lifted off the ground.

His mother laughs, choking back tears as he jumps into the waiting arms of his father. The two stands, hugging fiercely, neither trying to hold back the intense emotions of this moment.

Teddy does not want to let go, out of the fear that this may all be a dream, but as his mother puts her hand on his shoulder, he breaks away from his father. He turns around to see his wife standing there, all the beauty and delight of her youth evident in her face.

Teddy smiles so much that it begins to hurt his cheeks as he kisses his wife and he embraces his parents again and again. He feels no desire to stop smiling as he realises he has all eternity to be with these people.

"I've missed you. I've missed you all, so much," he says, tears of pure joy still spilling down his face.

"We've missed you, too, Teddy, but we never have to leave you again. Your home now, with the people who love you." His mother tells him, still beaming.

"Your Mum is right, Ted. We're so proud of you!" His father says, fondly.

Teddy thinks he can not be any happier than he is when he hears is parents speak. It is not until Victoire takes his hand and kisses it gently that he knows he is where he belongs.

Teddy Lupin is finally home.

_A/N - Reviews make me happy, thus making me want to write more stories that aren't about death, as so many of mine seem to be at the moment! So reviews are great, sil vous plait!_


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